Does a TAR file compress its contents?
No. TAR combines files and their paths into one stream but does not compress their contents. Choose TAR.GZ when you also want GZIP compression.
Drop files here or click to select
Add multiple files or keep a folder's relative paths.
TAR does not support password protection.
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TAR packages a collection of files into one archive while preserving filenames and directory paths. It is widely used in Unix-oriented workflows, software distributions, backups, and situations where a directory tree needs to travel as a single file.
A plain TAR archive does not reduce the contents through compression. That makes it fast and predictable for packaging, but the headers and block padding mean the .tar file can be slightly larger than the combined source data.
No. TAR combines files and their paths into one stream but does not compress their contents. Choose TAR.GZ when you also want GZIP compression.
TAR is common for Unix and Linux software, backups, containers, and transferring directory trees. It is especially useful when another step will compress, sign, or transport the archive.
Yes. Select Folder to include its relative paths, or add multiple files individually. The resulting TAR keeps those archive paths for later extraction.
A TAR archive normally includes header blocks and padding around file data. Since it does not compress the contents, that overhead can make the output slightly larger than the selected files.
No. The TAR format does not support password protection or encryption. Choose ZIP or 7Z if the archive needs a password.
Related tools: Archive Compressor · Extract TAR File · Create TAR.GZ File · Create ZIP File